Dean Kremer didn’t have it from the beginning for the Baltimore Orioles tonight. I remind people all the time, a pitcher will have ten great starts, ten awful, and ten in the middle. This assuming circa thirty starts a season. Kremer’s line: 4.0 IP, 7 H, 7 R (5 earned), 3 BB, 3 K.
Kremer gave up a solo homer to Busch on the second at-bat of the game. An inning later Nido added a sac fly-RBI, and the O’s trailed 2-0. However Jordan Westburg, who was named to the All-Star team earlier today, tried to keep them in it with a solo homer in the last of the second.
That second Chicago run incidentally came as a result of a challenged play at first base. The O’s thought they had a double-play, but the runner (Swanson) was called safe at first on review. That, combined with the fact that Chicago got runner after runner on base with softly hit singles ate at the O’s. It’s tough when you’re trying to tear the cover off the ball, but your opponent finds a way.
Chicago would put three on the board in the third, but the O’s put runners at the corners with nobody out in the bottom of the inning. Now the good news is that the Orioles squeaked a run out in that sequence. The bad news is they did it by Anthony Santander grounding into a double-play. That left the bases clear, preventing a big inning.
And in typical Cubbies’ fashion, they made the Orioles pay. Happ smacked a three-run homer in the fourth inning, opening the score wide open. They would tack on two additional runs in the later innings, running the final to 9-2.
Luckily for the Birds, New York fell to Tampa this evening. So they maintained their three-game division lead. But the Orioles can’t allow this game to get them down. There’s a long way to go in the season.
I found it interesting that Chicago got their final run on another challenged play in the ninth inning. A runner was called safe after Chicago challenged the play at first base. One might argue that it was a sign of respect in that they knew the Orioles had a potent offense. It was just interesting to me that they felt the need to get the extra run.
The series continues tomorrow at Camden Yards. Corbin Burnes gets the start for the O’s, and he’ll be opposed by Chicago’s Shota Imanaga. Game time is set for just after 6:30 PM.
Birdland Crush 